November 23, 2005

Vatican says active gays not welcome in priesthood

VATICAN CITY
Malaysia Star

By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Practising homosexuals should be barred from entering the Roman Catholic priesthood, the Vatican says, taking a strict line on the place of gays in the clergy, an issue that has divided the faithful worldwide.

An eagerly awaited Vatican document said the Church would also bar men with "deep-seated" gay tendencies and those who support gay culture but would admit those who clearly overcame homosexual tendencies for at least three years.

Key excerpts from the official English-language version of the document, to be issued next week, were read to Reuters late on Tuesday by a Vatican prelate in possession of the document.

The document reinforces standing policy that many in the Church believe has not been properly enforced. Its urgency has been highlighted by the 2002 sexual abuse scandal in the United States, which involved mostly abuse of teenage boys by priests.

Posted by kshaw at November 23, 2005 07:16 AM